Image display apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

Provided are an image display apparatus and method which enables a user to quickly and easily obtain information related to an image currently being reproduced. The image display apparatus includes: a setting module setting a plurality of sub regions into which a predetermined image frame of an image being played back are divided according to color; and a mapping module mapping one or more thumbnail images of one or more relevant contents related to the image to one or more sub regions selected from the sub regions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2007-0104149 filed on Oct. 16, 2007 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image display apparatus and method,and more particularly, to an image display apparatus and method whichenables a user to quickly and easily obtain information related to animage currently being reproduced.

2. Description of the Related Art

A service of providing multimedia contents, such as moving images orstill images, on an image display apparatus is gradually evolving from aunidirectional service to a bidirectional service. In the unidirectionalservice, a service provider provides multimedia contents to a user. Inthe bidirectional service, a service provider and a user can communicatewith each other.

As the service of providing multimedia contents evolves into thebi-directional service, there is a growing demand for image displayapparatuses, which can be connected to an Internet network, such asInternet protocol televisions (IPTVs), personal computers (PCs) andmobile devices. These image display apparatuses play back images usingbuilt-in software which is needed to play back images in a predeterminedformat.

However, it is difficult to search for and obtain information related toan image, which is currently being played back, using a conventionalimage display apparatus. For example, while viewing a moving image on aPC, a user may want to search for information related to the movingimage, such as news articles or other moving images produced by aproducer of the moving image currently being played back. In this case,the user may stop or temporarily stop the moving image which iscurrently being played back. Then, the user may access the Internet,input a keyword for the moving image, which is currently being playedback, to search for information related to the moving image, and obtainthe information. That is, when using a conventional image displayapparatus, a user has to go through a number of stages before obtaininginformation related to a moving image which is currently being playedback.

Therefore, a technology, which enables a user to quickly and easilyobtain information related to an image currently being played back, isrequired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention provide an image display apparatus andmethod which enables a user to quickly and easily obtain informationrelated to an image currently being played back.

However, aspects of the present invention are not restricted to the oneset forth herein. The above and other aspects of the present inventionwill become-more apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to whichthe present invention pertains by referencing the detailed descriptionof the present invention given below.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided animage display apparatus including: a setting module setting a pluralityof sub regions into which a predetermined image frame of an image beingplayed back are divided according to color; and a mapping module mappingone or more thumbnail images of one or more relevant contents related tothe image to one or more sub regions selected from the sub regions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan image display method including: setting a plurality of sub regionsinto which a predetermined image frame of an image being played back aredivided according to color; and mapping one or more thumbnail images ofone or more relevant contents related to the image to one or more subregions selected from the sub regions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects and features of the present invention willbecome more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show moving-image frames in which a plurality of subregions are set according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 shows thumbnail images of different sizes according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows thumbnail images having different clearness levelsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the amount of relevant contents ineach category and a sub region to which thumbnail images of the relevantcontents in each category are to be mapped;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show moving-image frames to which thumbnail images aremapped according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an image display method according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows a moving-image frame to which thumbnail images are mappedaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an image display method according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of theinvention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, an image display apparatus and method according toembodiments of the present invention will be described with reference toblock diagrams or flowchart illustrations. It will be understood thateach block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks inthe flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus, such that theinstructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, create means for implementingthe functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerusable or computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable orcomputer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchartblock or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

And each block of the flowchart illustrations may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example,two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantiallyconcurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved.

An image display apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention can play back multimedia contents. In this case, amultimedia content refers to a digital object which includes at leastone of video information, audio information and text information.Specific examples of multimedia contents include moving images, stillimages, music, Java games, electronic books, and various digitalbroadcasts such as digital multimedia broadcasts, digital videobroadcasts and digital audio broadcasts.

As used herein, the term ‘play back’ denotes visually or acousticallyrepresenting multimedia contents so that a user can use the multimediacontents. Examples of the playback type of the multimedia contentsinclude ‘Play,’ ‘Display,’ ‘Execute,’ and ‘Print.’ ‘Play’ is torepresent a multimedia content in an audio/video form. For example, ifthe multimedia content is a moving image or music, the playback type ofthe multimedia content may be ‘Play.’ In addition, ‘Display’ is topresent a multimedia content on a visual device, and ‘Print’ is togenerate a hard copy of the multimedia content. For example, if themultimedia content is a still image, the playback type of the multimediacontent may be at least one of ‘Display’ and ‘Print.’ ‘Execute’ is touse content such as a game or an application program. For example, if amultimedia content is a Java game, the playback type of the multimediacontent may be ‘Execute.’

When receiving a predetermined command while playing back a multimediacontent, the image display apparatus may search for other contents(hereinafter, referred to as ‘relevant contents’) related to themultimedia content which is currently being played back. For example,when receiving a pause command while playing back a moving image, theimage display apparatus may search for relevant contents of the movingimage which is currently being played back. Examples of the relevantcontents include others frames in the moving image currently beingplayed back, moving images (for example, other moving images produced bya producer of the moving image which is currently being played back),still images, music, books, websites and articles related to the movingimage which is currently being played back. In order to search for therelevant contents, the image display apparatus may be connected to, forexample, an Internet network (not shown).

Once the relevant contents are found, the image display apparatus maygenerate thumbnail images for all of the found relevant contents. Then,the image display apparatus may map the generated thumbnail images to aplurality sub regions selected from the moving image based on color andprovide the mapping results to users. Here, the thumbnail images may besimultaneously displayed in the sub regions which were selected based oncolor. Alternatively, the thumbnail images may be sequentially displayedin the selected sub regions at predetermined time intervals.

A case where all thumbnail images are simultaneously mapped to aplurality of sub regions selected based on color will be described belowas an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In addition, a casewhere all thumbnail images are sequentially mapped to a sub region,which is selected based on color, at predetermined time intervals willbe described below as another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. For the simplicity of description, moving images and stillimages may be used as examples of multimedia contents which are playedback by the image display apparatus.

An image display apparatus and method according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will now be described with FIGS. 1through 8.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus 100 according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1,the image display apparatus 100 according to the present embodimentincludes an input module 101, a detection module 102, a setting module103, a conversion module 104, an extraction module 105, a search module106, a thumbnail image generating module 107, a storage module 108, amapping module 109, a display module 112, a processing module 110, anexecution module 111, and a control module 113.

The input module 101 may receive a command (such as a pause command) forrequesting relevant contents of a moving image (or a still image) whichis currently being played back. The input module 101 may also receivecommands required to play back a moving image, such as playback, stop,and volume up/down commands. To this end, the input module 101 mayinclude a plurality of keys. For example, the input module 101 mayinclude a play key for playing back a moving image, a pause key fortemporarily stopping a moving image which is currently being playedback, and a stop key for stopping a moving image which is currentlybeing played back. These keys may be implemented as software, such asicons of a graphical user interface (GUI), or implemented as hardware.Alternatively, the keys may be implemented as a combination of hardwareand software.

The detection module 102 may detect a facial region in a moving-imageframe (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘frame’) at a time when the pausecommand is input. For example, the detection module 102 may detect afacial region in a frame with reference to pre-stored skin colorinformation. Specifically, the detection module 102 may detect pixels,which have values corresponding to skin color and are successivelyarranged, from all pixels that form a frame. In so doing, the detectionmodule 102 may detect a facial region of the frame. In addition, thedetection module 102 may perform edge detection to detect a facialregion in a frame. Specifically, the detection module 102 may detectedges in a frame, compare the detected edges to pre-stored positioninformation of eyes, a nose and lips, and determine a region, in whichthe similarity between the detected edges and the position informationexceeds a predetermined level, as a facial region of the frame. Afterdetecting the facial region of the frame, the detection module 102 mayprovide information regarding a region excluding the facial region, thatis, a background region, to the setting module 103.

The setting module 103 may group together pixels, which have valueswithin a predetermined range, from among pixels included in thebackground region of the frame and set the group as a sub region.

Specifically, a pixel value can be represented by a plurality ofcomponents in a predetermined color space. Therefore, the setting module103 may put each pixel, each of whose components is within apredetermined range, from among the pixels included in the backgroundregion in a group and set the group as a sub region. For example, apixel value can be represented by R indicating a red (R) component, Gindicating a green (G) component, and B indicating a blue (B) componentin an RGB color space. In this case, the setting module 103 may selectpixels from the pixels included in the background region. Here, each ofthe selected pixels may have the R, G and B components, each of which iswithin the range of 0 to 30. Then, the setting module 103 may put theselected pixels in a group and set the group as a first sub region. Inaddition, the setting module 103 may put each pixel, each of whose R, Gand B components is within the range of 31 to 60, in a group and set thegroup as a second sub region.

As described above, the ranges of the R, G and B components required togroup pixels into a specified sub region may be equal to or differentfrom one another. Specifically, the setting module 103 may put pixels,each of which has the R component in the range of 0 to 30, the Gcomponent in the range of 10 to 30 and the B component within the rangeof 5 to 40, in a group and set the group as the first sub region.

After pixels having values within a predetermined range are groupedtogether to set a sub region as described above, a frame may include oneor more sub regions into which pixels have been grouped based on thesame range of pixel values, which will now be described in more detailwith reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring to a frame illustrated inFIG. 2, a background region of the frame includes a first sub region210, a second sub region 220 and a third sub region 230. On the otherhand, referring to a frame illustrated in FIG. 3, a background region ofthe frame includes two first sub regions 310 and a second sub region320.

Referring back to FIG. 1, a pixel value in the RGB color space has beendescribed in the above examples. However, the pixel value can also berepresented in various ways according to the type of color space. Forexample, a pixel value may be represented by L* indicating lightness, C*indicating chroma and h indicating color in a commission Internationalede I'Eclairage (CIE) lightness, chroma and hue (LCH) color space. Inaddition, a pixel value may be represented by L* indicating lightness,a* indicating the degree of red and green and b* indicating the degreeof yellow and blue in a CIE L*a*b* (CIE LAB) color space.

As described above, a pixel value can be represented in various mannersaccording to the type of color space. If a signal format of a frame isdifferent from a reference signal format used to set sub regions, thesignal format of the frame may be converted into the reference signalformat before the sub regions are set. For example, if a frame has anRGB signal format and if the reference signal format is a signal formatin the CIE LCH color space, the signal format of the frame may beconverted into the signal format in the CIE LCH color space. This signalformat conversion may be performed by the conversion module 104.

When the pause command is input, the extraction module 105 may extract akeyword required to search for relevant contents. Examples of thekeyword may include the title, genre, producer, provider and maincharacter of a moving image. The keyword may be added by a producer of amoving image as additional information about the moving image when theproducer produces the moving image or may be provided by an externaldevice (not shown).

The search module 106 may search for relevant contents of a movingimage, which is currently being played back, using a keyword extractedby the extraction module 105. For example, the search module 106 maysearch for still images, moving images, music, articles, books andwebsites which are related to a moving image currently being playedback. If a plurality of keywords are extracted by the extraction module105, the search module 106 may search for the relevant contents usingeach of the keywords. For example, if the extraction module 105 extractsthe title and producer of a moving image, which is currently beingplayed back, as keywords, the search module 106 may search for therelevant contents using title and then producer.

A classification module (not shown) may classify found relevant contentsby category. Examples of the category may include other works producedby the producer of a moving image which is currently being played back,other works featuring a main character of the moving image which iscurrently being played back, information about the main character,information about the moving image which is currently being played back,and articles about the moving image which is currently being playedback. The classification module may classify the found relevant contentsbased on the above categories.

The thumbnail image generating module 107 may generate thumbnail imagesof relevant contents which are classified by category. A thumbnail imagemay include at least one of a representative image and a text of arelevant content. For example, if a relevant content is a moving image,a thumbnail image of the moving image may include a representative imageof the moving image and the title of the moving image. If the relevantcontent is a still image, a thumbnail image of the still image mayinclude a reduced version of the still image. If the relevant content isa text, a thumbnail image of the text may include the title of the textor an initial portion of the entire text.

When generating thumbnail images as described above, the thumbnail imagegenerating module 107 may adjust the size of the thumbnail imagesaccording to at least one of the number of relevant contents included ineach category and the size of a sub region, to which thumbnail images ina specified category are to be mapped, from among a plurality of subregions included in a frame.

For example, it may be assumed that the number of first relevantcontents in a first category ‘other works of a main character’ isgreater than the number of second relevant contents in a second category‘relevant articles.’ In this case, if a first sub region to whichthumbnail images of the first relevant contents are to be mapped is thesame size as a second sub region to which thumbnail images of the secondrelevant contents are to be mapped, the thumbnail image generatingmodule 107 may reduce the thumbnail images of the first relevantcontents to be smaller than the thumbnail images of the second relevantcontents.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, it may be assumed that a thumbnailimage composed of 50×50 pixels is of a standard size. In this case, whengenerating the thumbnail images of the first relevant contents, thethumbnail image generating module 107 may reduce the size of thethumbnail images to a size of 40×40 pixels. On the other hand, whengenerating the thumbnail images of the second relevant contents, thethumbnail image generating module 107 may increase the size of thethumbnail images to a size of 70×70 pixels.

If the number of the first relevant contents is equal to that of thesecond relevant contents and if the first sub region is narrower thanthe second sub region, the thumbnail image generating module 107 mayadjust the thumbnail images of the first relevant contents to be smallerthan the thumbnail images of the second relevant contents.

In addition, the thumbnail image generating module 107 may adjust theclearness of a thumbnail image of each relevant content based on thenumber of times that the relevant content has been used. For example, asthe number of times that a specified relevant content is used increases,the thumbnail image generating module 107 may adjust a thumbnail imageof the relevant content to become clearer.

FIG. 5 shows the clearness of a thumbnail image of a relevant contentwhich is represented at five levels according to the number of timesthat the relevant content has been used. Specifically, when a maximumnumber of times that a relevant content has been used is 100%, if thenumber of times that a specified relevant content has been used fallswithin the range of 0 to 20%, the clearness of a thumbnail image of thespecified relevant content may be set highest. That is, the thumbnailimage of the specified relevant content may be set clearest. If thenumber of times that the specified relevant content has been used fallswithin the range of 81 to 100%, the clearness of the thumbnail image ofthe specified relevant content may be set lowest. That is, the thumbnailimage of the specified relevant content may be set opaque.

If the clearness of a thumbnail image of each relevant content isadjusted according to the number of times that the relevant content hasbeen used, when a frame to which thumbnail images are mapped isdisplayed, a user can intuitively recognize a relevant content which hasfrequently been used and thus easily select the relevant content.

The storage module 108 stores thumbnail images generated by thethumbnail image generating module 107. Here, the thumbnail images may beclassified by category and stored accordingly. In addition, the storagemodule 108 may store information required to adjust the clearness of thethumbnail images and algorithms required to play back moving images orstill images. The storage module 108 may be implemented as a nonvolatilememory, such as a cache, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmableread-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)or a flash memory, or a volatile memory such as a random access memory(RAM). However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The mapping module 109 may map thumbnail images in each category to eachsub region. Here, a sub region to which thumbnail images included in aspecified category are to be mapped may be determined according to thenumber of relevant contents in the specified category. Specifically,when found relevant contents are classified by category, if a specifiedcategory includes a greater number of relevant contents than othercategories, thumbnail images of the relevant contents in the specifiedcategory may be mapped to a larger sub region.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the number of relevant contents ineach category and a sub region to which thumbnail images of the relevantcontents in each category are to be mapped.

Specifically, it may be assumed that a total amount of found relevantcontents is 100% and that the amount of relevant contents in the firstcategory ‘other works of a main character’ and the amount of relevantcontents in the second category ‘relevant articles’ are 70% and 30%,respectively. In this case, the mapping module 109 may map thumbnailimages of the relevant contents in the first category to the first subregions 310. In addition, the mapping module 109 may map thumbnailimages of the relevant contents in the second category to the second subregion 320. Consequently, a frame in which thumbnail images in eachcategory are mapped to a background region can be provided as shown inFIG. 7A.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the display module 112 may display the resultof processing a user command. For example, the display module 112 maydisplay a frame, in which thumbnail images are mapped to a backgroundregion, as shown in FIG. 7A. The display module 112 may be, but is notlimited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD).

When one of displayed thumbnail images is focused on, the processingmodule 110 may enlarge the focused thumbnail image based on apredetermined standard as shown in FIG. 7B. For example, if a thumbnailimage composed of 40×40 pixels is focused on, the processing module 110may enlarge the focused thumbnail image to 70×70 pixels. If a thumbnailimage composed of 50×50 pixels is focused on, the processing module 110may enlarge the focused thumbnail image to 80×80 pixels. Informationrequired to enlarge a thumbnail image may be stored in the storagemodule 108 described above.

When a thumbnail image is selected from displayed thumbnail images, theexecution module 111 may download or play back a relevant content linkedto the selected thumbnail image. Specifically, if the relevant contentlinked to the selected thumbnail image is a web page, the executionmodule 111 may display the web page on the display module 112. If therelevant content linked to the selected thumbnail image is another framein a moving image which is currently being played back, the executionmodule 111 may play back the moving image from the frame. If therelevant content linked to the selected thumbnail image is anothermoving image, the execution module 111 may play back the moving image.Since the execution module 111 downloads or plays back a thumbnail imageselected by a user, the user can quickly obtain information related to amoving image which is currently being played back.

The control module 113 connects and manages all components of the imagedisplay apparatus 100.

FIG. 8 is an image display method according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, if a pause command is input while a moving image isbeing played back (yes to a question raised in operation S820), aplurality of sub regions may be set based on color in a moving-imageframe at a time when the pause command is input (operation S830).Operation S830 may include converting a signal format of themoving-image frame into a reference signal format in order to set subregions, detecting a facial region in the moving-image frame in thereference format, putting pixels, which have values within apredetermined range, from among pixels included in a background regionexcluding the facial region in a group, and setting the group as a subregion.

If the sub regions are set, all thumbnail images of relevant contents ofthe moving image, which is being played back, may be simultaneouslymapped to selected sub regions (operation S840). Operation 840 mayinclude extracting a keyword required to search for the relevantcontents, searching for the relevant contents using the extractedkeyword, classifying the found contents by category, generatingthumbnail images of the relevant contents which are classified bycategory, and determining a sub region, to which thumbnail images ineach category are to be mapped, based on the number of relevant contentsincluded in each category.

Here, the generating of the thumbnail images may include adjusting thesize of the thumbnail images for each category according to the numberof relevant contents included in each category and adjusting theclearness of a thumbnail image of each relevant content according to thenumber of times that the relevant content has been used.

After all thumbnail images in each category are simultaneously mapped toa corresponding sub region (operation S840), the moving-image frame, towhich the thumbnail images were simultaneously mapped, may be displayed(operation S850).

When one of the displayed thumbnail images is selected, a relevantcontent linked to the selected thumbnail image may be downloaded orplayed back (operation S860).

According to the image display apparatus and method described above,relevant contents of a moving image, which is being played back, aresearched for, and thumbnail images of the found relevant contents aregenerated. Then, all of the thumbnail images are mapped to a pluralityof sub regions which are selected from a specified frame of the movingimage based on color.

Hereinafter, an image display apparatus and method, in which thumbnailimages are sequentially mapped to a sub region at predetermined timeintervals, according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 11.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an image display apparatus 900 according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.9, the image display apparatus 900 according to the present embodimentincludes an input module 901, a detection module 902, a setting module903, a conversion module 904, an extraction module 905, a search module906, a thumbnail image generating module 907, a storage module 908, amapping module 909, a processing module 910, a display module 912, anexecution module 911, and a control module 913.

The input module 901, the detection module 902, the setting module 903,the conversion module 904, the extraction module 905, the search module906, the storage module 908, the processing module 910, the displaymodule 912, the execution module 911 and the control module 913 includedin the image display apparatus 900 according to the present embodimentfunction in the same way as those of the image display apparatus 100according to the previous embodiment of the present invention, and thusa detailed description thereof will be omitted. Instead, a descriptionof the present embodiment will focus on the thumbnail image generatingmodule 907 and the mapping module 909.

The thumbnail image generating module 907 may generate thumbnail imagesof relevant contents which are classified by category. Here, the sizesof all thumbnail images may be adjusted to that of a sub region which islarger than other sub regions included in a frame.

The mapping module 909 may sequentially map the thumbnail images in eachcategory to the sub region, which is larger than the sub regionsincluded in the frame, at predetermined time intervals. For example, themapping module 909 may sequentially map the thumbnail images atintervals of ten seconds as shown in FIG. 10. When sequentially mappingthe thumbnail images at predetermined time intervals, the mapping module909 may map thumbnail images in a category, which includes a largestnumber of relevant contents, before other thumbnail images.Alternatively, the mapping module 909 may map thumbnail images ofrelevant contents, which have been more frequently been used, beforeother thumbnail images.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an image display method according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, if a pause command is input while a moving imageis being played back (yes to a question raised in operation S12), aplurality of sub regions may be set based on color in a moving-imageframe at a time when the pause command is input (operation S13).Operation S13 may include converting a signal format of the moving-imageframe into a reference signal format in order to set sub regions,detecting a facial region in the moving-image frame in the referenceformat, putting pixels, which have values within a predetermined range,from among pixels included in a background region excluding the facialregion in a group, and setting the group as a sub region.

If the sub regions are set (operation S13), all thumbnail images ofrelevant contents of the moving image being played back may besequentially mapped to a sub region, which is selected from the set subregions, at predetermined time intervals (operation S14). Operation 14may include extracting a keyword required to search for the relevantcontents, searching for the relevant contents using the extractedkeyword, classifying the found contents by category, generatingthumbnail images of the relevant contents which are classified bycategory, selecting a sub region which is larger than the set subregions, and sequentially mapping the generated thumbnail images to theselected sub region at predetermined time intervals.

Here, the generating of the thumbnail images may include adjusting theclearness of a thumbnail image of each relevant content according to thenumber of times that the relevant content has been used.

Then, the moving-image frame, in which the thumbnail images in eachcategory have sequentially been mapped to the selected sub region, maybe displayed on, for example, a display module (operation S15).

When one of the displayed thumbnail images is selected, a relevantcontent linked to the selected thumbnail image may be downloaded orplayed back (operation S16).

The term ‘module’, as used herein, means, but is not limited to, asoftware or hardware component, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performscertain tasks. A module may advantageously be configured to reside onthe addressable storage medium and configured to execute on one or moreprocessors. Thus, a module may include, by way of example, components,such as software components, object-oriented software components, classcomponents and task components, processes, functions, attributes,procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware,microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays,and variables. The functionality provided for in the components andmodules may be combined into fewer components and modules or furtherseparated into additional components and modules. In addition, thecomponents and modules may be implemented to execute one or more centralprocessing units (CPUs) in a device or a security multimedia card.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims. Theexemplary embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only andnot for purposes of limitation.

1. An image display apparatus comprising: a setting module setting aplurality of sub regions into which a predetermined image frame of animage being played back are divided according to color; and a mappingmodule mapping one or more thumbnail images of one or more relevantcontents related to the image to one or more sub regions selected fromthe sub regions.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: asearch module searching for the relevant contents using one or morekeywords extracted from the image; and a thumbnail image generatingmodule generating thumbnail images of the found relevant contents,wherein the keywords are at least one of title, genre, producer,provider and main character of the image.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the thumbnail image generating module decreases the clearness ofa thumbnail image of a relevant content as the number of times that therelevant content is used increases.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein, when the found relevant contents are classified by category,the thumbnail image generating module reduces the size of thumbnailimages of relevant contents in a category as the number of the relevantcontents in the category increases.
 5. The apparatus of claim. 2,wherein the setting module puts pixels, which have values within apredetermined range, from among pixels included in a background regionexcluding a facial region of the image in a group and sets the group asa sub region.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, when the foundrelevant contents are classified by category, the mapping module mapsthumbnail images in a category, which has a greater number of relevantcontents than other categories, to a larger sub region.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the mapping module simultaneously maps the thumbnailimages to the selected sub regions or sequentially maps the thumbnailimages to the selected sub regions at predetermined time intervals. 8.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the image being played back is amoving image, the setting module sets the sub regions in an image frameat a time when the moving image is temporarily stopped.
 9. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the relevant contents are at least one of otherframes in the moving images, other moving images, still images, music,articles, books and websites which are related to the image being playedback.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an executionmodule playing back or downloading a relevant content, which correspondsto a thumbnail image when the thumbnail image is selected from themapped thumbnail images.
 11. An image display method comprising: settinga plurality of sub regions into which a predetermined image frame of animage being played back are divided according to color; and mapping oneor more thumbnail images of one or more relevant contents related to theimage to one or more sub regions selected from the sub regions.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: searching for the relevantcontents using one or more keywords extracted from the image; andgenerating thumbnail images of the found relevant contents, wherein thekeywords are at least one of title, genre, producer, provider and maincharacter of the image.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein thegenerating of the thumbnail images comprises decreasing the clearness ofa thumbnail image of a relevant content as the number of times that therelevant content is used increases.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein,when the found relevant contents are classified by category, thegenerating of the thumbnail images comprises reducing the size ofthumbnail images of relevant contents in a category as the number of therelevant contents in the category increases.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein the setting of the sub regions comprises putting pixels, whichhave values within a predetermined range, from among pixels included ina background region excluding a facial region of the image in a groupand setting the group as a sub region.
 16. The method of claim 12,wherein, when the found relevant contents are classified by category,the mapping of the thumbnail images comprises mapping thumbnail imagesin a category, which has a greater number of relevant contents thanother categories, to a larger sub region.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein the mapping of the thumbnail images comprises simultaneouslymapping the thumbnail images to the selected sub regions or sequentiallymapping the thumbnail images to the selected sub regions atpredetermined time intervals.
 18. The method of claim 18, wherein, whenthe image being played back is a moving image, the setting of the subregions comprises setting the sub regions in an image frame at a timewhen the moving image is temporarily stopped.
 19. The method of claim18, wherein the relevant contents are at least one of other frames inthe moving images, other moving images, still images, music, articles,books and websites which are related to the image being played back. 20.The method of claim 11, further comprising playing back or downloading arelevant content, which corresponds to a thumbnail image when thethumbnail image is selected from the mapped thumbnail images.